Commuters shouldn't see rapid Highway 40 reopening as precedent, Quebec says - Action News
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Montreal

Commuters shouldn't see rapid Highway 40 reopening as precedent, Quebec says

It took ministry workers less than 24 hours to get the westbound stretch open after police completed their analysis of the scene.

Transport Ministry says highway closure after explosion 'emergency situation' had to be addressed quickly

More than 200 Transport Ministry workers worked through the night to get the westbound lanes of Highway 40 open Thursday morning. (Radio-Canada)

The rapid reopening of Highway 40's westbound lanes after Tuesday's tanker truck fire should not be seen as a precedent for the pace of other road work projects in the city, Quebec's Transport Ministry says.

Ministry spokeswoman Sarah Bensadoun said the closure of the lanesaround St-Denis Street, followingthe fire and explosions, was an "emergency situation" given the roadway's importance as one of Montreal's primary traffic arteries.

"This is a very strategic area. We're talking over 200,000 vehicles a day. We wanted to do the work as fast as we can and make sure the structure was safe for road users," Bensadoun said.

The collision and its aftermath initially closed all of Highway 40. The eastbound lanes opened Wednesday morning when after engineers deemed the structure sound. (Submitted by Jean-Sbastien Cossette)

The highway was closed after a collision involving four vehicles caused a tanker truck to catchfire and explode, killing the driverand injuring six others.

Less than 24-hour turnaround

It took ministry workers less than 24 hours to get the westbound stretch open oncepolice completed their analysis of the scene and turned it over to Transports Qubec.

The intense heat of the fire bent guardrails and melted asphalt and concrete on the Highway 40 West. (CBC)

Bensadoun said the operation involved more than 200 ministry personnel representing "every kind of expertise" andworking in close co-ordinationwith city, police and fire officials.

"We started with tests we took some samples in different areasand later that day it came out that there was no damage to the concrete," she said.

Asphalt damaged by the fire was stripped and resurfaced and temporary guard rails were installed to replace those that had been bent by the intense heat.

Transport Ministry workers work on one of the guardrails left bent by intense heat of the fire. (Radio-Canada)

The three westbound lanes reopened at 6:30 a.m. Thursday.

Quebec's Transport Minister Jacques Daoust heralded the rapid completion of the workas the "best possible scenario."

Bensadoun, however, saidMontreal commuters should not seethat scenarioas a pace-setting precedent for other road maintenance and development projects around Montreal.

"In this case, it was an emergency. In other projects, it's not the same situation," Bensadoun said.

"We have to analyze the traffic, we want to make sure we will not hinder the traffic in any way So it's not the same process at all."

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